Once you’ve been around for a while and worked in or been a member of a number of different organisations, you start to realise that most organisations are managed very poorly. The statistics say that only about 20% of people in the US say that they believe their abilities are being well used in their employment, and the figure is much lower in Australia. In nearly every workplace you find people staring out the window, watching the clock, and surfing the internet when they’re supposed to be working. Inefficiencies, poor service, and a lack of caring are everywhere.Paul’s First Letter to Timothy — Chapter 5

5:1 Do not rebuke an older man. Encourage him like a father. Encourage younger men like brothers, 5:2 elder women like mothers, and younger women like sisters, with purity. 5:3 Honour widows who really are widows. 5:4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, those children should first learn to show godliness towards their own family, and repay their obligation to their parents, because this is what God wants. 5:5 The real widow has been left alone, and her only hope is in God, so she keeps praying and asking God for help day and night. 5:6 But the self-indulgent widow is living a dead life. 5:7 Tell people to do these things, so that they will act properly. 5:8 People who do not fulfil their responsibilities, especially to their own family, have denied the faith, and are worse than unbelievers. 5:9 A widow can be enrolled on the list if she is over sixty years of age, has been the wife of one man, 5:10 has demonstrated a commitment to doing good deeds such as raising children, showing hospitality to strangers, serving the believers, helping people who are in trouble, and getting involved in all kinds of good works.

5:11 Younger widows should be refused enrolment, because their physical desires will outweigh their commitment to Christ, and they will want to get married, 5:12 making them guilty, because they have broken their promise. 5:13 Furthermore, they learn to be lazy, going about from house to house. As well as being lazy, they become gossips and meddlers, saying things which they should not. 5:14 I would like the younger widows to get married, have children, look after the house, so that the enemy has no opportunity for finding fault. 5:15 Some have already turned away to follow Satan. 5:16 If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should look after them. Avoid burdening the church, so that it can look after those who really are widows.

5:17 Leaders who lead well should be considered deserving of double honour, especially those who work at preaching and teaching. 5:18 The Scripture says, “You must not muzzle the ox while it is threshing grain.” And, “The worker deserves to be paid.”

5:19 Do not listen to an accusation made against a leader, unless supported by two or three witnesses. 5:20 People who sin should be corrected in front of everybody, as a warning to everyone else. 5:21 I call on you in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the chosen angels, to follow these instructions without any bias. Show no favouritism. 5:22 Do not be too quick to lay hands on anyone to appoint them to a position of authority, and do not be a participant in other people’s sins. Keep yourself pure. 5:23 Do not just drink water. Use a little wine to help your stomach and treat your frequent sickness.

5:24 Some people’s sins are obvious, going before them to judgment, and some people’s sins follow them. 5:25 Similarly, good works are obvious, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

[…] One of the strange things about Christianity is the place of leaders. According to Jesus, anyone who wants to be a leader must be the servant of all. This conflicts with the traditional view of leadership in which the leader gets the highest pay, the corner office, the fancy car and the right to order everyone else around. But does this mean that Christian leaders do not get looked after at all? Paul’s view of the question is revealed in chapter 5 of his first letter to Timothy: […]